My Teaching
Philosophy

Teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels
present different challenges.

I meet my undergraduate students right at the start of their
university life – in the first semester of their first
year of studies at NTU. At this early stage, the realities (and
the occasional harshness) of life have not dawned on most
students yet. I take the opportunity to explain to my students
that when they decided to accept the offer to study at NTU some
three or four months before they meet me for the very first
time, they decided (perhaps even without realising it) that for
the next forty years, they will depend on their brainpower to
put food on the table, to pay for their housing loans, and to
take the occasional holidays. Every expense they make, and
every bill they pay for will depend on the stock of knowledge
they have accumulated, not just at NTU, but also at the school
of hard knocks. Because of this, they have to, in the short
time that they have at NTU, learn as much as they can. They
cannot be contented with learning just the material presented
in classes, but have to go beyond, and also cultivate the
personal qualities that will take them successfully to the end
of their lives.

I tell my students that although it sounds like a tall
order, they are well positioned to learn all of this because
NTU is a place where astonishing opportunities can be found. At
NTU, every effort has been made to ensure that the
infrastructure, information resources, social networking
possibilities and academic programmes are world-class, but it
all comes to naught unless students take advantage of them.
Students therefore, have to actively seek these opportunities
out, and avail themselves to them. They must seize the
moment.

I explain that a university education is one of the biggest
purchases of their lives, not just because of the money
involved, but because of the opportunities and time forgone at
the peak of their youth. I stress that the fees are paid for by
the hard-earned money of their parents, and that the best way
to repay their parents is to do well, and not to squander four
years of their lives drifting aimlessly.

The undergraduate class that I teach is a large one (129
students), and a challenge specific to this class is the large
variation in the mathematical abilities of the students. Some
12% of the students have not taken Additional Mathematics at O
level, and concepts like integration are foreign to them.
Another 25% took Mathematics as an H1 subject at A level, and
are not as adept at mathematics as those who took it as an H2
subject. I have responded to the challenge in two ways. First,
I organised two remedial classes for the students (both during
the one-week break), and also prepared four workbooks for the
students (a fifth workbook is currently in preparation). Each
workbook is divided into two sections – the first section
contains questions to be attempted by every student, while the
second section contains questions for the weaker students. By
doing this, I hope to bring the weaker students to be on par
with the stronger ones.

Teaching at the postgraduate level presents a different set
of challenges and they stem from diversity of the students. The
students admitted to the three Master’s programmes come
from different countries, have been exposed to a variety of
educational systems and acquired different work experiences,
belong to different age groups and cultures, possess varying
levels of knowledge and interest in the subject matter, and
have different motivations for pursuing a postgraduate degree.
They play several roles, and juggle several responsibilities.
Part-time students, who account for almost half of every
cohort, often come for classes exhausted after work from as far
away as Changi. Making their trip down to NTU worthwhile is
what I strive to do for them.

I believe that in lecture theatres and tutorial rooms,
teachers have the power to create conditions that can help
students maximize their learning. To me, teaching is, in fact,
the intentional act of creating these ideal learning
conditions, and so, in every class I teach, I strive to create
them.

I create them by ensuring that my lessons are both engaging
and relevant to the students, and that they are able to learn
and apply the concepts taught despite their different
backgrounds. To achieve this, I am responsive to
students’ needs and put a significant amount of effort in
my preparation and delivery to ensure that my course materials
are rigorous, current, and at the same time, interesting. As
part of the course preparation, I also monitor trends in the
fields of knowledge management and information studies by
interacting with professionals, researchers, and current
students. I read widely, and my readings help to keep the
course content updated. In addition, I encourage active
participation and peer-learning among students by providing
opportunities for class presentations, group projects, and
discussions.

To me, good teaching goes beyond possessing excellent
teaching technique and method. It does not come solely from a
meticulously prepared lesson plan. Good teaching also means
being excited and passionate about the subject matter (no
matter how many times one has taught the same material), being
willing to connect and engage with the students, and being
authentic about one’s identity as a teacher.

I try to make every encounter with my students, whether at
the lecture theatre or serendipitously at the canteen, a
meaningful and inspiring one. I try to go beyond being fun,
interesting, or even engaging. After 13 weeks with me, I hope I
have made an impact on their lives, and that I have changed
them in some positive way.

Students today are very fixated on the syllabus. It has
become a list of topics to be completed by the end of the
semester. I try to change this “syllabus
completion” mindset by encouraging students not to be
limited by a document that has been thoughtfully, but still
artificially put together, but to equip themselves with every
possible skill they can get their hands on. Students need to
know that the set of knowledge they need in their lifetime is
not restricted to any syllabus, and so their learning should
not be restricted by one.

Students today have been brought up to understand that
learning should be fun. While I agree that learning can, and
often is indeed fun, mastery takes discipline, persistence,
endurance, fortitude, sacrifice, and the ability to handle
setbacks and failures along the way. It’s never going to
be plain sailing, and students have to be prepared for this.